When Joshua Ledet revealed that he would (bravely attempt to) sing Mariah Carey‘s version of ‘Without You’ on tonight’s (March 28) episode of ‘American Idol,’ season advisor Jimmy Iovine immediately stated that it’s one of the five hardest songs to sing in popular music. Yikes. Whatever the case, it was Ledet’s selection since the Idols were allowed to perform songs by their personal idols. So, did Ledet make a mistake with his choice?

Wearing a black and white checkered jacket, the ever-classy Ledet was accompanied by violinists while he sang a beautiful rendition of this song with its heart-crushing lyrics. He had some spectacular runs in the middle of the song ,and towards the end, he delivered raspy, powerful notes.

He also emoted intensely, as well, touching his brow mid-song, since he was caught up in the feeling of the song. He was visibly moved by the lyrics and pulled something from his core and poured it back into the performance.

J. Lo called his voice “God sent.” And while Randy Jackson always tells the Idols to avoid the big songs by big singers, Ledet is an exception, since has a huge voice of his own. So it’s obvious that he needs to tackle big songs to do his own voice justice.